Windows Server 2012 Evaluation – convert & activate to fully licensed

Update: This post was made in 2013 (5 years ago at time of writing). It’s clear from the many comments it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, and I suspect Microsoft may have broken it with various different install builds, or it just didn’t work with certain releases and configurations. Most recently, I installed a full copy of Win 2012 on a new server (using official Open License ISO media), it didn’t ask me for a license code on install, and then when I tried to use the below method (post install) it wouldn’t work – thanks MS!

I believe I found that using the following command from the cmd prompt did the trick:

slmgr -ipk

It allowed me to replace the 25 digit generic / trial code MS had installed the OS with with my proper license key. If you type in the above and hit enter, it should give you all the available parameters to try and achieve what you want. No idea if it will let you apply an OEM or retail key to an Open License install, etc! Good luck :-)

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So I’m at the end of the trial period for Windows Server 2012, and having a bought a volume license for the Data Center edition, I need to activate it. Microsoft have taken away the ability to alter product keys through Control Panel -> System so we have to use the command line.

I’ve read a lot of articles out there on this, which generally don’t work, presenting an error when you try and process your new key using the slmgr command line tool.

First of all, you need to establish your exact currently installed version. From a elevated command prompt, run the following command:

DISM /online /Get-CurrentEdition

In amongst the blurb that appears on screen, it will tell you your current edition (in my case ServerDatacenterEval). Make a note of this – you will use in the next command with the last ‘Eval’ bit ommitted.

The above unboldened / italicised entries will need to be your own specific variables (remember to drop the ‘Eval’ bit for the Set-Edition). I believe, you can also use this as an opportunity to upgrade to a higher edition, for example using the /Set-Edition switch to go from Standard up to Datacenter. The /AcceptEula switch allows the system to silently accept the Microsoft license agreement.

When you run this command, your system will need to restart 1 or 2 times. Thereafter (if it doesn’t happen automatically) you will be able to activate with your newly provided key from Control Panel -> System or using the slmgr tool, and you will now be running your licensed copy :)

The clue’s in my title post – this is for Windows Server 2012, not Windows 8, certainly not Win 8 Enterprise trial!….. :-)

I have not used the Win 8 Enterprise evaluation, but I have in the past used the trial for Win 7 Enterprise. The rules back then were that the trial would work for 90 days as standard, and there was no way of licensing it. The only way to put it in to production was to do a clean install once you had your license keys from MS. I would guess it is a similar policy with Windows 8 Enterprise trial, so I’m afraid you will probably need to do a full reinstall. Otherwise, call Microsoft licensing, and they may be able to help you.

It’s a year since I last did this, so I’m scratching my head to remember what I did to license the DCs. Are you trying to switch down a version, i.e. you’ve been running the Datacenter trial, and you’re needing to to apply a license for Standard? That’s one rough idea, as this would likely cause some problems…. Otherwise, you could temporarily setup more DCs based on the trial version (or if you already have multiple DCs, do the following one at a time), subsequently demote the AD DC role on the servers you want to license, apply the key change, then promote them to being DCs again. This might be what I had to do a year ago – my memory fails me!

I wouldn’t know for sure, but I would assume you probably can. Fundamentally, give it a try – the worse that will happen is your remaining days of trial may get zeroed, so just keep this in mind. Best of luck with that – maybe feedback if it worked or not! Cheers :-)

Thanks man this was a life saver!! I was typing everything I found on Technet to not have to re-install the OS!! A co-worker of mine installed the Eval instead of the Full VL we had. I did notice that it didn’t work for me in CMD so I transitioned over to PS and it worked like a charm.

Many thanks for the feedback, really glad it worked for you :-) Perhaps it didn’t work from command line due to not having elevated rights? I think PowerShell automatically loads with these rights. Either way, glad to help, cheers! :-)

This worked fine for me, I needed to turn my evaluation server into a live host. We use KMS licensing so I applied the proper server type and added the KMS Client key as follows:
DISM /online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:D2N9P-3P6X9-2R39C-7RTCD-MDVJX /AcceptEula
All product keys can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx

Just wanted to leave a quick note to further reiterate the fact this thread SAVES LIVES!

I recently deployed not one, but TWO installations of Server 2012 R2 build 9600 that came with the usual trial period. I also went ahead and setup AD DS and various other services required under the impression that I simply needed to purchase and activate the installation and all would be good. I purchased two OEM Server 2012 R2 licenses along with 5 pack CALS not realizing that OEM keys will not activate on evaluation editions…..and that’s where this thread came in. It took some work, but I was able to get the servers activated safely without having to worry about a dreaded reinstall/setup.

For anyone else in my situation, all you have to do is deploy ANOTHER Server 2012 R2 with AD DS, demote the server with the evaluation copy that you wish to activate, use the above commands to activate the license, then promote the server back to a DC again and voila…! You could also just avoid that mess altogether and activate your key BEFORE you install AD DS.

ONCE AGAIN….this -WILL- work….even if you have an evaluation copy and OEM key like I had!

Had a LENOVO ROK and media was damaged. So LENOVO support said download the 2012r2 Trial. Deployed it as my VM instance with 180 days. Needless to say next time I buy a server for a client no mor OEM or ROK going to be Microsoft Open License all the way.

Came across this stale post and followed the instructions and worked like a charm.

This post was made in 2013 (5 years ago at time of writing). It’s clear from the many comments it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, and I suspect Microsoft may have broken it with various different install builds, or it just didn’t work with certain releases and configurations. Most recently, I installed a full copy of Win 2012 on a new server (using official Open License ISO media), it didn’t ask me for a license code on install, and then when I tried to use the below method (post install) it wouldn’t work – thanks MS!

I believe I found that using the following command from the cmd prompt did the trick:

slmgr -ipk

It allowed me to replace the 25 digit generic / trial code MS had installed the OS with with my proper license key. If you type in the above and hit enter, it should give you all the available parameters to try and achieve what you want. No idea if it will let you apply an OEM or retail key to an Open License install, etc! Good luck :-)